Choosing a new future
by Iruviene-san
Summary: GPs or DPs; who is it gonna be this time? In a post-war, post-experiments scenario, a certain someone's return from the dead shocks everyone, along with the information of a new conspiracy stirring deep inside the government.
1. Begin again

This is my first Divergent fanfic, so I hope you guys enjoy it! I'd really apreciate it if you'd leave me a review with your thoughts and feedback on this story. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1 - Begin again

As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize there's nothing left. I've been blasting and fighting for so long, even my mind thinks that my sanity's gone.

It's been a long time since I last saw my home, too long. The kitchen light is on and there's a delicious smell spreading through the hair. Caleb must be living here again.

As I approach the door and knock, I think about the last 3 years. It's mid-April now, which means that it's been 1198 days since I've seen Caleb or my friends (or Tobias, for that matter) and they all think I'm dead. I wonder what my brother is going to say when he answers the door in a few seconds; I have no clue what to say either. I forgave him long ago and missed him so much over the last 3 years of my life.

Suddenly the doorknob shifts and the door itself cracks open. Caleb looks flabbergasted but after a few seconds, his eyes shine as if he had figured it out and his mouth closes. He smiles briefly and opens the door a bit more for me to get in as he makes his way back to the kitchen. Promptly and without saying a word, my brother adds an extra dish, glass and pair of cutlery to the table.

Caleb still doesn't talk while he carries on with the food he's cooking, though his smile is back. I take a look around my old home. It looks much different now, the walls are still painted in the Abnegation but there are a couple of bookcases filled with books about chemistry, biology, anything and everything. There are also a few painting on the walls, some of landscapes and some are abstract. Our parents would have scolded him if they saw this, chastising Caleb for the self-indulgence of keeping art works at home. I don't think they'd be mad about the books though, I mean, father was from Erudite originally and I know that he must have been able to understand how it feels to thirst for knowledge since he felt it too, at least at some point. Although mom was placed inside the Chicago experiment, she was placed in Erudite and she married and Erudite-born man, she at least had already dealt with this hunger for knowledge.

"Beatrice."

Caleb's voice is soft and just above a whisper. He's hovering over the table while filling our glasses with water and then he looks at me, waiting for me to sit down at the table. He seats down as do I and he holds my hands in his.

"Oh, don't tell me you're going to say graces." I smile at him.

"Little miss Prior, I am a man of science, I do not say graces." He laughs, though his laugh is soft and short, almost like a giggle. His expression turns serious again as he looks into my eyes. "Tris, how are you still alive?"

I knew he was going to ask this so I prepared an answer beforehand, though I feel like Caleb deserves a true and proper explanation, one that comes from the heart. "After I got shot, Mathew found me and took me to the infirmary. The doctors were able to extract the bullets, but they had a lot of questions for me and for Mat too. When I woke up, they demanded explanations. That's when we decided to reset the people at the compound. Originally, we were going to tell everyone that I had survived, but Mat came across a piece of information about the Government and some conspiracy. We took advantage of the fact that everyone was drowsy to further investigate this information." I paused my explanation and took a bite of the food. Caleb had made spiced chicken and noodles, not exactly Abnegation food but not very far from it.

"And then? What did you find out?" Caleb hadn't even touched his food, he was staring at me with a look of pure delight, as if this information I brought him was a big box of chocolates.

"You should eat." I smile before I resume my narrative. "It turned out that the intel was correct: there was indeed a conspiracy in the making taking place at the Government. The United States government, the higher authority of this country and everyone in it. Mat and I met with the intelligence supplier and discovered that the conspirators were acting on a genetic prejudice; whether it was against GPs or GDs, we didn't know, but given the events that took place a few hours prior to that encounter, we assumed it was against GDs."

My story is almost over now. "How did that unfold into you being proclaimed dead when the others came back?" my brother asks while absentmindedly toying with a small piece of chicken.

"Well, I'm guessing you were assuming that I had died. I mean, with the junction of the death serum and the several gunshots that must have been heard in the nearby premises, you and pretty much everyone there had every reason to believe that I had died. It was only logical that I should at least try to uncover the whole thing with the government. By resetting the compound and making everybody believe that they were working towards GP and GD equality, Mat and I couldn't, out of our own sense of morale, let the conspiracy run its course and undo what we had managed to do with the compound. So, Mat was in charge of making you believe I was dead and I was in charge of getting myself into the Government." I finish and take a sip of water. My mouth feels dry even after I drank some water; I was nervous about how Caleb would react.

"I'm assuming you were successful." Caleb looks at me expectantly. Even after all I've told him, he still wants to know more. He truly is an Erudite.

"Indeed I was. It wasn't easy though, I spent a couple of months at The Fringe to get things to work. On this present day, I am Councilman Powell's assistant, basically a Councilwoman-in-training. It's basically the same thing I was invited to do at the compound, but of a bigger dimension." I explain.

"Is this council you speak about the President's Council?"

"It is."

"You must have found out something, at least. It's been 3 years, it's almost impossible that you haven't."

"I have found something. Get ready, I'm going to knock your socks off."

We spend the rest of the night discussing the events of the last 3 years, dinner long forgotten. Once Caleb knows everything, it's already half past midnight, yet he tells me about what everybody has been up to lately. Apparently Johanna is a politician now and Tobias is her trainee; now I know who to talk to first about this matter, but the prospect of facing Tobias makes me nervous. Though a great wrongdoing could come out of us meeting again, the benefit of letting Johanna in on this surpasses everything else. I have to do it.


	2. New perspective

**Hello people! I know it's been long, but hey, I'm here. I was busy studying for finals and I passed, I'm done with highschool! I made this chapter long to make up to you guys. I'm gonna try to post a few more chapters before I start college. Enjoy the chapter!**

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Tris' POV

"Come on Tris, we have to go or we're gonna be late." I hear Caleb's voice ringing through my newly rented one-bedroom apartment-

"Correction, you're going to be late. I'm still supposed to be dead, remember?"

"Yeah, well, enough with the technicalities and hurry up, it's time to bring you back to the land of the living." Caleb is starting to look annoyed by know. I really ought to hurry up.

I get my brief case and look at my reflection in the mirror one last time before I head out with my brother, hoping i picked the right outfit. I'm used to dressing formally for meetings, but this isn't a business meeting or a council meeting, Johann is my friend, or at least she used to be, therefore i can't dress to formally or I'll seem to impersonal, but I also can't dress too casually or it will look like i don't respect the ocasion or the people taking part in it. I eventually settled for a pair of dark blue fitting jeans, a white blouse and a simple-cut black blazer, which is what I'm wearing now. As i look at myself in the mirror, i regret my choice of hairstyle, the updo i executed now seems too strict and i don't want to be seen as unapproachable, even more so because Tobias will be there as well. Quickly, i let my hair loose and get it up again in a loose bun, letting some bangs fall along the sides of my face. Much better now.

"Tris! You look pretty, now let's get going!" Caleb is now huffing with impatience. I pick up my brief case again and we exit the apartment. Next destination: Johanna Reyes' office.

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Tobias' POV

As I look at the clock and realize it's 10:28, I get the faint reminder of an appointment at 10:30, so I check the name on the appointment book. The name there shocks me slightly, it's one I haven't heard in a long time. Why does he want to meet with Johanna? Then, there's a knock on the door.

"Caleb Prior, right?" Johanna asks. I nod and look down at my paperwork and she goes to get the door herself.

"Good morning, Mr. Prior." A shell-shocked silence follows. "And Miss Prior." It's real. It's happening. Tris is back, alive and well. I finally look up and our eyes meet briefly, until she returns her attention to Johanna. She looks good, a bit older and more serious. Most importantly, she looks healthy and unharmed.

"Hello Ms. Reyes, it's nice to see you again." She says it with a smile that could bright up a dark room.

"It is indeed, Tris. And please, call me Johanna." Placing a hand on Tris' arm, she gestures towards the chairs in front of her desk. "It's been a long time since we last saw each other. Too long. And I was under the impression that you were dead."

Tris and Caleb swiftly sit down on the chairs. When they're sitting so close together, their physical resemblances really show. They have the same eye shape, the same jaw line, though Tris' is somewhat smoother, and their noses are slightly similar, Tris' is bigger than Caleb's. The characteristic in which they're less similar is their eye colour. Their eyes are blue, but Tris' are more greyish, more mysterious, Caleb's are awfully transparent.

Tris begins her speech.

"All that was safe for you to know was that I was, indeed, dead." She states. "After all that business in the compound with the death serum and the shooting, the doctors were still able to keep me alive. Matt and I – he was a researcher that worked at the compound – came across the information of a conspiracy against GDs starting in the government. Actually, we didn't know if it was really against the GD, but, given the circumstances, we assumed so. I left to find out more before the people who had gone into the city came back." _A.k.a., me._

"Letting everyone believe you were dead." Johanna included.

"Correct. Matt was the only one, other than me, who knew the truth. I ended up in the Fringe making my way to the top. By coincidence, I met an old friend who had my back all the while."

Caleb looked at Tris suspiciously. "Was it…?" he asks.

"It was." Tris smiled at him.

"How much time did you spend in the Fringe?" Johanna inquired.

"From 6 months to a year. I don't really remember. I don't really know, actually. Everything moves faster there, time seems to blend together."

"Probably because of all the adrenaline."

Tris nods in agreement. "Most likely, yes."

She then continues. "First, I plotted to overthrow a minor drug lord that operated in the region. After weeks of threatening people, I managed to gather the required weapons, examine blue prints of the site, which were not easy to come by, and devise a plan. As I was about to go in, a shooting starts out. It didn't last longer than 5 minutes. Once the gun shots stopped, I went in, only to find the members of the drug operation dead and a group of people destroying the cocaine. I recognized one of them. Well, actually, he recognized me and that made me recognize him. Nobody had called me "Little miss Prior" in a long time. In fact, I thought he was dead. It's a bit ironic, isn't it?" Tris chuckled lightly. It was obvious she is very fond of this person she's talking about, the little twinkle in her eyes gave it right away. "Once reunited with my friend, his comrades became mine as well and together we freed the Fringe of the command of the most dangerous drug lord that place has ever seen."

"Impressive."

"It's not really that impressive, I had help." Tris smiles after that statement. "Then, I went to Washington and infiltrated the Government, so to speak."

"You did what now?" Johanna seems shocked.

"Infiltrated the Government. All out in the open, of course. I "accidentally" bumped into one of the members of the President's Council on the street, which caused the contents of his brief case to spill out, contents on which I commented, earning his interest. After that, I became his assistant, mostly like a council member trainee."

"Who is this man?"

"His name's Councilman Powell. A decent enough guy, wouldn't hurt a fly. His heart's in the right place, but he's easily influenced. Well, being his assistant guaranteed me a vast and reliable network of information sources. At first, things were shady and the bits and pieces of information I received seemed random. After a while and with Matt's aid, we found out exactly who the conspiracy was against and we was calling the shots." At this point, Caleb is eyeing Tris intensly and both Tris and Johanna are leaning in towards the table. I am also leaning in and my body's tensing unconsciously.

"Who? Who is it?"

"The man is a relatively recent council member, still a minor one, but he has a way with words that can make the strongest minded person accept his ideas. And this conspiracy…it's not like anything we've ever seen before. It's completely new."

"So, it's not againt the GD?" Johanna is looking paler by the minute.

"No. It's quite the opposite, actually." Tris takes a deep breath before continuing. "It's against the GP." Johanna gasps and Caleb clenches his jaw. I'm getting a feeling that Tris isn't done yet. "And it's not just against a secluded group. It's all of them. Of us. He wants to kill us all."

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 **I hope you enjoyed that! Pretty big revelation, is it not? Review and let me know what you think! Thank you!**


	3. An eye for an eye

**Would you look at that, I'm back in record time! I noticed a few mistakes I made on the last chapter, but, in my defense, I typed that chapter in the dark xD**

 **Anyway, enjoy this chapter! I might (i.e. only a meteor would stop me) publish the 4th chapter tomorrow, I better get on with it before I have to go without an internet connection again.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Tobias' POV

Johanna looked baffled. "What do you mean it's against the GP?" She's finding it hard to believe and, frankly, so am I.

Tris took a deep breath, but remained calm. "The mastermind's name is John Copperfield. His father was actually a pretty big deal in politics, but he went crazy and killed himself after his wife, John's mother, died. Councilman Powell was very close with the poor kid's father and took him in, adopted him and raised him as his own son. A few years later, Powell had a kid of his own, a girl who grew up to be insufferable." She chuckled a bit at that.

"Then, since you are Powell's protégée, you must be close with John."

She shrugged. "Not really. By the time I was taken under Powell's wing, Johnny was already a councilman of his own merit and was no longer living with Powell, so I didn't see him much. We saw each other at meetings and talked briefly about matters that concerned both him and Powell. That was pretty much it until I started suspecting him."

From Tris' words, it feels like it took her a while to start suspecting him, which, to me, seems unusual since her first impression of a person is usually right. The guy must be an amazing actor to be able to misguide her. I decided to intervene. "What made you suspect him?"

Tris pondered on an answer and then turned to me. "When I started working with Powell, I made it a point to befriend his daughter, a.k.a. John's pseudo sister. Nicole is basically an overgrown, obnoxious and spoiled brat, but putting up with her paid off when she commented with me on her brother's stranger behavior. Apparently, she had gone over to his place for lunch one Sunday and, while John was cooking their meal, Nicole noticed a loose tread on her shirt and started looking for scissors to get rid of it. She wandered into his office and was searching for the scissors on his desk when he came in. Nicole told me he looked angry and yelled at her to not go into his office while quickly putting away several documents. Then, he grabbed her by the arm, pulled her into the living room and then proceeded with what he was previously doing, as if nothing had happened." Having answered my question, she turned back to Johanna and continued. "I called my informants and told them to keep an eye out for John's movements. A few days later, I received reports of secret meetings between John and a wide number of people you wouldn't like to be associated with. I looked into his finances, his phone records, his council projects, everything. Then I-…"

Johanna put her hands up, interrupting Tris, who was looking slightly murderous. I guess she still doesn't like to be interrupted.

"Wait a minute, Tris." Johanna said. "How exactly did you get a hold of Copperfield's finances, phone records and council projects?"

Tris smirked. "It wasn't hard to get the council projects, I talked to the White House main desk clerk and asked nicely. As for the finances and phone records…I believe you'll find that I can be very resourceful when it suits my needs."

Caleb then pitched in on the conversation. "My guess is that she threatened people. Beatrice can be pretty scary." After that, he shivered.

'Beatrice' looked over at her brother and laughed. "I only threaten those who need threatening."

Johanna shushed their conversation. "So, you looked into him, what did you find?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all."

The look on Johanna's face was one of the most confused ones I've ever seen in my entire life. "Then, what…how…I-I'm afraid I don't fully comprehend the situation."

Tris leaned forward and reduced her voice to a near whisper, which caused all of us to lean forward as well. "On paper, he was squeaky clean. But I took the matter into my own hands and followed him every night for about a month. I compiled a list of the people he was meeting with and looked up all of the names. I threatened a few of them and sweet talked the rest. Eventually, I discovered what he needed from them – intel. At first, the bits and pieces of information seemed random, until I broke into his house and found the papers he hid from Nicole that day. I had to disable his security system, move a bookshelf and crack a safe to find them, but it was worth it."

"What did you find? What is he up to?"

"Well, I've already told you that it's against the GP, but let me go back to the start so you can understand what he's doing and why he's doing it." Tris leaned back again. "John's mother died when he was 5 years old. She was beaten and raped by a group of men and died in the hospital due to the injuries she sustained during the attack. The police gathered all the evidence they could find, but, nevertheless, the case went stale after a few weeks of investigation since they had no new evidence or clues. Although, naturally, it was a high profile case because the victim was the wife of one of the President's counselors, so they never really gave up on it. After about 2 months since the case was opened, they caught a break. The description of the assailants given to the police by a witness resulted in a sketch that was recognized by an old lady that lived in the outskirts of Washington. She was called in to give a statement and identified the perpetrators. Most of them we're just standard low life scumbags, but one of them was the son of a very rich and influent GP business man, the douche was GP himself. The men were arrested and placed under preventive custody until the trial. Since it was a high profile case, the judge was chosen the day before the trial at 11 pm, the trial itself started at 8 am the next day. The jury was placed under lockdown on a cheap motel right from the moment it was picked, to avoid influence of the media or tampering by the wealthy business man." She cleared her throat and took a sip of water. I didn't notice she was given water, but well. "The trial started and everything was well on its way until it was the GP douche's turn to testify. The judge immediately softened up and it got even worse when the douche's father was called to the stand as one of his son's character witnesses. A few days later, the judge dismissed the case based on the amount of time between the crime and the arrest of the defendants and said that there was lack of evidence. I don't really disagree with that, they only had the descriptions given by a senile old lady and the identification of said descriptions by another senile old lady, along with a handful of meaningless physical evidences. I'm not saying the scumbags didn't do it, I know they did, but the state's attorney took a gamble and lost, although I'm sure the judge wouldn't have dismissed the case if the GP douche wasn't one of the defendants. 3 days after the judge's ruling, John's father took his own life."

"That must have been hard on John."

"According to Powell, the kid barely ate and slept for months. He told me that on his 6th birthday, John came out of his room and never spoke of his parents again. He studied political science in college and, soon after his graduation, the President appointed him one of his councilors."

Johanna nodded in comprehension and then looked at me. "What do you make of the situation, Tobias?"

Both Tris and Caleb turned to face me. I reflected for a few seconds before speaking. "John's driven by a hate of GP people who think they can get away with anything and wishes to end the GP-GD prejudice. Since his mother lost her life because of said prejudice, to him the only fair thing is to have a GP life in exchange for his mother's. And to end of possibility of what happened with his mother's case ever happening again, he wants to end all GP lives."

Tris nodded similarly to Johanna and then spoke again. "The only problem to him is that he can't exactly line up every GP and shoot them all in the head. This his were the papers I found in his office come in. He needs to gather every GP in one place, a place that is big enough and can easily be closed off to the world outside and obliterated without many people noticing. What strikes you as a perfect place to do that?"

My eyes widen in shock. "Chicago. That's what you found on his desk. Maps of Chicago, plants of the fence. There's basically nothing around here, the people of the Fringe wouldn't exactly complain if Chicago disappeared. He's going to destroy the city along with every GP he can lure here. He's going to hit us. That's why you're here."

Tris nodded again. "Exactly."

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 **I hope you enjoyed that! Review a let me know what you think!**

 **See you next chapter!**


	4. Of Stiffs and Stouts

**Ok, this is the longest chapter ever on this story, it has 2.262 words. I have to say that I got a bit disgruntled that no one even read the last chapter, but I'm talking myself into believing that it's because all my lovely readers are still in vacation and well, to be fair, I posted it a little over a day ago, that isn't much time for people to notice a new chapter's up, but well. I really hope this chapter gets a bit more attention though, I put a lot of work into it.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

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Tobias' POV

Johanna cleared her throat after a few moments of shocked silence. "So, what now?"

Tris turned her attention back to her. "Well, I left the Capitol and came here under the excuse that my brother was gravely sick and could possibly die – by the way Cal, you're dying." She said, turning to her brother and smiling. Caleb scowled at her. "All we can do for now is monitor John's movements and anything that happens in the outskirts of town. Also, I'd like to have a really big map of Chicago, as big as that wall." Tris concluded, pointing to the wall behind her.

Johanna nodded. "That can be arranged. I think we should make my office our base of operations."

Tris nodded as well before replying. "I agree. Do you have a mobile phone, Johanna?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good, I'm gonna need your mobile number and your office number as well."

Johanna nodded at Tris and then turned to me. "Tobias, can you please take care of that?"

I got up and headed to my desk. "Certainly." When I got there, I took one of Johanna's business cards from a drawer and wrote down her mobile number of the back of it. Then, I headed back across the room and handed the card to Tris. She was arranging a meeting with Johanna and me sometime tomorrow and took the card from me without looking, although she suddenly stopped talking and glanced at me when our fingers slightly touched. She quickly regained composure and resumed her conversation while I was left wondering if she felt the same jolt of electricity as I did.

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Tris' POV

 _Pull yourself together, god dammit!_

Johanna was still talking to me, but I could hardly concentrate on her words. "How about we meet again tomorrow afternoon, at 5pm?"

Wait, meet again why? Oh wait, yeah, I was the one who suggested it. "Sounds good to me."

Caleb and I got up to leave after shaking Johanna's hand. I was still debating on whether or not to shake Tobias' hand when I remembered something else I needed to ask Johanna. "Before I go, I need to know if the city has changed a lot since the end of the experiment."

Johanna looked at me and then spoke. "We have renovated some buildings, others we teared down and built brand new ones."

Her answer annoyed me because she didn't really answer my question, although I have a feeling she did that on purpose. "So, would you consider it changed a lot?"

She shrugged. "All things considered, yes, I would say so."

I nodded and muttered to myself. "Then erasing the footage is more than justified, yes, that's what I'm gonna do next."

Johanna eyed me quizzically. "What do you mean, erasing the footage?"

I snapped out of my daze. "Hum, what? Oh yeah, I talked to Matt the other day and he said that the cameras here are still up and running, the city has been being recorded for the last 3 years. I'm gonna call him and ask him to erase the footage, that way John will only have footage of the city until the factionless uprising, he's not going to know what the city looks like now and that'll work in our advantage."

Caleb looked over at me. "Geez Beatrice, you could plan out a freaking war."

I was about to open my mouth to nicely tell Caleb to fuck off when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked the caller ID – it was Matt. _Right on cue Matty._ I turned to Johanna and waved my phone in the air and chuckled. "Speak of the devil." Johanna smiled at that and dismissed me to go take the call.

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Tobias' POV

I watched as Tris answered the phone with a small smile on her face. "Hi Matty. How are you doing?" After Matt's reply, she giggled. "I'm fairing as anyone who just came back from the dead would be." She giggled again and I felt a pang of jealousy. I never did like the guy. "What do you mean I left my tank top there? Oh last time I visited? Oh yeah, I remember." I feel another pang of jealousy, it's stronger this time though. "Well, it's not like I'm gonna go over there just to get my tank top. No, not even to see you." At that, she smiled gently. "Because I'm busy here, dummy. Anyway, I didn't call about the tank top, I need a favor. Yeah, yeah, I know I always need a favor but you never complain. I need you to erase the footage of the city of the last 3 years ASAP. No, scratch that, I'll call you once I need you to erase the footage. Can you do it? Oh awesome, thanks buddy." She called him buddy. _Good._ "Oh, oh, one more thing. Just one more little thing, I promise. Can you send me a map with the location of all the cameras? Really? Ok, I'll text you the fax number. Thanks Matty, really. Bye, talk later." She smiled and finished the call, turning back to us. "You have a fax machine, right?"

Johanna pointed to the room where we kept the copy machine, the printer, the scanner and the fax machine. "It's in there, the number's written by the machine."

Tris smiled at us and walked into the machine room. A few moments later, she came out of it holding her phone. "Now, we just need to wait for the map to come in."

Surely enough, we heard the sound of paper being printed a few moments later. She rushed over to the fax machine and came back carrying a map of the city with several dots on it. "Matt sent me the location of the cameras, the next step is ruining them, which will have to be done at night, I suppose." Tris nodded and muttered to herself again. "Ok, Caleb and I will take our leave now." She smiled and waved us goodbye. Caleb turned to us and smiled as well before speaking. "It's time to bring Tris back from the dead to a new set of people." At that, he chuckled and Tris glared at him.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Johanna turning her head in their direction, gesturing me to follow them, so I straightened and cleared my throat. "I'm going with you."

Both Tris and Caleb snapped their heads around to look at me and deny my 'offer', but Caleb was the first to speak. "I think we'll be fine without you, thank you very much." Oh Caleb, always the overprotective asshole.

"I think you'll need some back up, you'll surely be slaughtered if you go up against the angry town's people with pitchforks without my help." I chuckled.

Tris eyed me in a weird way. "Did you really just call Christina an angry town's person with a pitchfork?"

I smiled a little and shrugged. "Well, it's a suiting description, Chris has become even feistier." A small smile played on her lips and she muttered something that sounded awfully like 'I wonder how that's possible' before looking at me again.

"Fine, you're coming with us." She said. Caleb turned his head to her and was about to protest before she held up a hand to prevent him from arguing. "He's coming along and that's final." Tris' voice remained low, but she sounded more confident and commanding than ever. Anyone who heard her would follow her instantly. Caleb's shoulders slumped and he muttered a low 'Fine'. Tris smirked victoriously, shook Johanna's hand again and headed to the door, followed by Caleb. I was heading out as well when Johanna called me quietly.

"Keep an eye on her." She said. "I don't trust her." Unlike her, I trust Tris completely, but I nod in confirmation nevertheless and exit the office.

Outside of the building, Tris is stretching her back and looking up at the sky while Caleb is looking for something in his pocket.

"What time is it?" She asked Caleb, who had finished his search and was now holding a pack of cigarettes in his hand, along with a lighter.

He took a cigarette and held it between his lips. "You should carry a watch, Beatrice." He said, lighting the cigarette.

"I used to, but I kept breaking them, so I gave up." She finished stretching and faced him. "You know, those are bad for you." She said, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head. "What would our parents say?"

Caleb took a puff of his cigarette. "Well, our parents aren't here, are they?"

She smirked before speaking again. "No, they're not, but I am." Then, she took the cigarette from him and ran away giggling.

Caleb yelled before giving chase. "Hey, that's my cigarette missy!" She stopped and then laughed aloud. "Not anymore!" She said.

Tris waited for Caleb to get to her, took a puff of the cigarette and then smirked. "It's mine now."

I approached them while raising my eyebrows, trying to look both bored and amused. Needless to say, I failed miserably. "Since when do any of you smoke?"

Caleb was the first to answer. "Since Tris supposedly died."

At that, she giggled. "Aww, sorry big bro." She said, taking another puff of the cigarette.

"You still haven't answered."

She turned to me. "Me? It was during my time at the Fringe. Though the first thing I smoked wasn't exactly a cigarette."

Caleb looked confused. "Was it a cigar?"

She burst out laughing and I faced him, chuckling slightly. "You know, you're really dumb sometimes, Caleb."

Tris then managed to stop laughing and turned to us with teary eyes. "Let's just go."

I chuckled again, agreed with her and we took off while Caleb was still yelling at us, demanding to know what his sister smoked.

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Tris' POV

It feels weird walking besides Tobias again. At first, it was all fine and dandy until the laughter died out. Then, it just became all out super-duper mega awkward. I thought he'd get mad at me for faking my death and refuse to speak to me, but he's been quite friendly so far, well, more like perfectly polite, but still. It's quite suspicious, since one of his most defined traits has always been his ability to get mad and hold a grudge. There's something he isn't letting on, but I have other things to worry about know.

The city looks like it received a new life. The Mash isn't filthy anymore, the water looks clear and pure. There are hardly any buildings in ruins, the streets are garbage-free and there are people on the street. There are so many people, it's amazing. The place looks alive, it looks like nothing bad could ever happen here.

I see a group of children running towards us, better yet, running towards Tobias.

"Toby! Toby!" they said as they reached us and caught a hold of Tobias' pants. "Are you gonna teach us how to jump in the train today? Are you, are you?"

He laughed and patted the head of the kid who spoke. "Not today, Alec, today I'm busy. Maybe tomorrow, ok?"

The kids looked sad when he told them he couldn't teach them today, but their faces brightened up immediately when he mentioned teaching them tomorrow.

Then, the only girl in the group looked at me and Caleb with shining eyes. "You're pretty." She said. That shocked me slightly, I never got used to thinking of myself as pretty and I don't think I ever will. After a few seconds of mental debate on the nuances of my so-called prettiness, I managed to smile at her and reply. "Why, thank you. You're really pretty, you know?"

The girl smiled brightly, a big boasting smile. "I know, my mommy tells me so all the time." That caused all of us, grown up ones, to laugh.

Tobias turned to us and introduced us to the kids. "Kids, this are Caleb and Tris Prior." There was a general 'wow' and I gave Caleb a confused look. He leaned towards me and whispered. "You're kind of a legend around here, lil' sis." The girl pulled my sleeve twice and I looked down at her. "When I grow up, I want to be brave just like you." I crouched so I could look her in the eyes.

"What's your name, little miss?" I asked in a serious voice and the girl blushed. "My name's Leah." She didn't stutter. Good.

I smiled at her. She reminds me of my best childhood friend, actually, my best friend in the whole world. He was out going, brave, smart, reckless, spontaneous and always so eager. The look on little Leah's face is the same look he had when he was her age. He was the only person who could make me do fun things, be spontaneous and not think of the consequences. This girl is going to grow into a remarkable woman. "Look at you, Leah. You're the only girl in the middle of a bunch of kids who want to learn how to jump into a moving train. You're already brave."

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 **I hope you enjoyed that, my lovelies! Please review and let me know what you think, it would really help cheer me up. Just tell me what you think of the story so far and the way it's developing, I really like to get feedback from the people that actually take the time to read my story.**

 **I've had this chapter lined up since last week, but I changed a couple stuff because the air between Tris and Tobias seemed a bit too light, so I tried to add a bit more tension to it, after all, Tris did pretend to be dead for 3 years and no one back in Chicago knew, specially not lover boy, but was Tobias really so oblivious to the truth? Again, review and let me know what you think!**

 **I'll probably only update again in the weekend, I'm going away for my last week of vacations before I start college and, sadly, I won't have any Internet access. See you then with a brand new, exciting and big chapter!**

 **Thank you!**


	5. The time for being sad is over

**So, hi! I have big news, I'm in college, woo woo! My classes start tomorrow and I spent last week at freshmen pranking, it's sort of a tradition. I've had to sing a lot of songs filled with swear words and my swear filter is now gone, so, it's a good thing that I finished this chapter last weekend xD I'll try not to go overboard with the swear words next chapter. By the way, I got in Biology!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Tobias' POV

I texted the gang while we made our way downtown and arranged for us to meet them at our favorite bar. Obviously, I left out the part about me having company.

"You know Beatrice, maybe I should go back. I'm still not one of their favorite people." Caleb looked at Tris with a somewhat fearful expression. She frowned at him.

"I'd rather have you with me."

"What for?" Caleb really didn't want to come.

"Moral support?"

He huffed and accepted defeat. "Fine." Tris smiled at him and we continued our journey.

A few moments later, the bar came into view. It was considerably large and painted in mainly dark colors. Its name was 'Dauntless' and the owners even managed to get a hand on the famous Dauntless chocolate cake batter, which, surprisingly, is great with beer. I guess that's why we love this place so much.

Tris raised an eyebrow. "Really? Somebody named a bar after a faction?"

I smiled inwardly and turned to her. "There are 4 other places named after factions."

Caleb nodded enthusiastically. "There's an internet café/library called 'Erudite' 2 blocks from here, it's really nice."

She chuckled. "Let me guess, there's a non-profit, non-governmental organization called 'Abnegation'?"

I nodded. "Exactly."

"Oh and there's a 'medical' marijuana shop called 'Amity'?"

Both Caleb and I laughed. "Correct. That's 2 for 2. What else have you got?"

Tris placed her index on her chin and adopted a pensive expression. "Is there a shop that sells lie detectors called 'Candor'?"

I smirked at her. "Ding ding ding."

She laughed and Caleb pumped his fist in the air. "Little miss Prior to the win!" At her brother's shout, Tris laughed harder and Caleb joined in, along with me.

After a few more moments of goofing around, we found ourselves in front of 'Dauntless'. The gang must have heard Caleb's yell, as some of them were eyeing me suspiciously, I turned around to face the siblings and looked Tris in the eyes. "Are you ready to do this?"

She smiled softly. "I was born ready."

I returned her smile and made my way inside. Right before I was going through the door, I turned back to Tris. "Come inside in 45 seconds." She nodded and I went in.

"Hi guys." I high-fived Zeke, Amar and George and ruffled Chris' hair before sitting down next to her. 35 seconds. "Listen guys, I have something to tell you." I paused and looked at their faces. They were eyeing me suspiciously until Zeke grinned. "Oh, did you and Chris finally get together?" The guys laughed and Christina's face turned into a tomato as she yelled at them to stop laughing and at Zeke to stop telling lies about her. 15 seconds left. "It's about Tris." I said abruptly. That got their attention, they were all looking at me in expectation. 5, 4, 3,…"She's alive."

Everyone gasped.

Right on cue, Tris and Caleb walked in the bar. At first, they all seemed petrified until Chris suddenly came to life and darted from the couch, tackling Tris to the floor in a rather brutal bear hug. Soon enough, Zeke jumped on top of them and then George and Amar joined in, so Tris was on the floor under an enormous pile of bodies, kicking and waving her arms around, trying to free herself.

I laughed at their antics and then pulled Amar from the pile. "Alright guys, that's enough, you'll suffocate her if you keep this up." One by one, they got up and Christina pulled Tris up with her and then grabbed her by the arms.

"What were you thinking?" She said, shaking Tris, who, at this point, looked pretty baffled. "Don't you ever do that again! Do you realize what you put us through?!"

Tris smiled and hugged Christina. "I missed you too, Chrissy."

She hugged her back. "Don't you ever call me that again, Trissy." They broke the hug after a while and Tris turned to the rest of us. "Hey Zeke." She said, smiling and pulling him into a hug. "I'm sorry for your loss." She whispered, talking about Uriah. That's right, I forgot she wasn't there when they had to…pull the plug.

"Thank you, Tris. And I'm sorry for your loss as well." He said, whispering as she did before. "I'm glad you're back." He added, louder this time. They pulled apart and she hugged George and Amar, both of them saying they were glad she was back.

After greeting everyone, Tris sat down next to Christina and smiled at us. "So, what's good here? I'm starving."

Christina jumped on her seat and turned to Tris filled with enthusiasm. "Oh my God, you need to try the chocolate cake with the beer, it's awesome."

Tris raised an eyebrow. "Chocolate cake with beer?! Eww."

At that, both Christina and Zeke gasped dramatically. "Eww?! You're gonna regret that, Beatrice Prior!" Christina got up and raced towards the bar, pulling Tris along with her. She looked back at us and mouthed the words 'Please help me'. We all started laughing and then Amar, who has always been the most diplomatic person of our gang, turned to Caleb.

"So, Caleb, you must be happy to have your sister back." He said, smiling at him.

Caleb, who was looking at his hands, looked up at Amar with a startled look in his eyes, I'm guessing he wasn't expecting anyone to talk to him. He cleared his throat before answering. "I am. I was a bit surprised when she showed up at my door, but she explained everything to me."

Amar nodded at his words. "We should ask her to explain everything to us as well."

Just after he finished talking, Tris and Christina came back, each carrying a beer and a piece of chocolate cake. "Eat." Chris ordered, looking at Tris with a threatening look. Tris shrugged and took a bite of the cake.

"Hmm, Dauntless cake." She said, taking another bite. "Damn, I missed this cake. This is heaven." At that, we all chuckled. Then, she took a swig of the beer and knitted her eyebrows together. "Wow, this is good beer. This is really good beer, I haven't had beer this good in a while."

Caleb raised his eyebrows at her. "So, you make it a habit of drinking beer?"

Tris glared at him before speaking. "I'm not the heavy smoker here, remember?"

I chuckled inwardly. "No, you're just the girl who smoked at least one joint."

Tris narrowed her eyes at me for a while before shrugging her shoulders. "Fair enough." And then she leaned back against the couch, taking another swig of her beer. "I like this place, it has good beer. How's the scotch here?"

Zeke laughed and turned to her. "It's pretty awesome, they have some bottles that have been aging for almost 6 decades and it's freaking delicious."

She laughed and then looked at the bar longingly. "Too bad I decided to stay sober today."

The entire gang laughed, even Caleb, who was given a beer at some point. Maybe that's why he's not acting like he has a stick up his ass. Amar turned to Tris and everyone got serious. "Tris, I'm sorry to bring this up, but do you think that maybe you could explain to us what exactly happened?"

Tris sighed and nodded somberly. "Of course I can, I owe you guys that much." She took a small sip of the beer before starting. "David did shoot me that day, I have the scars to prove it. The doctors saved me and Matt came to me with information about a new conspiracy, though it wasn't nearly similar to the compound's oppression over us, it was a lot bigger. Matt and I met with the informant to check the veracity of the information and decided that it was worth looking into it. You guys thought I was dead anyway, so we took the opportunity. The informant said that the conspiracy started in the Government, but I couldn't exactly just show up in Washington and start asking question like I owned the place, could I? So, we came up with a way for me to become somewhat known in the Capital and I went to the Fringe. I was gonna take out a minor drug lord who operated there, but somebody beat me to the punch. I was surprised to find that it was a very old friend of mine called Isaac Pent, we-…"

"Wait!" Amar said out of the blue and Tris' head snapped to her sporting a very confused look. "Isaac is alive?"

Tris furrowed her eyebrows. "You know Isaac?"

He nodded frantically. "He was in the first initiate class I taught back in Dauntless, he was brilliant. How is he still alive?"

Tris smiled softly. "He was pulled from the experiment right before they uncovered him as Divergent, the compound people took him to safety but Isis refused to live at the compound and become a perfect-genes-breeding-machine, so he left to the Fringe. I believe he left the compound right before you were pulled from the experiment. He also told me that his instructor was a great man and a great warrior."

"Isis?" Amar smiled widely and she laughed.

"Yeah, it was the nickname I gave him when we were little, he hated it." She said, still laughing.

"He called it the 'nickname from hell', am I right?"

Tris eyed him suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

Amar laughed. "We became close friends and he told me all about the little love he had to leave behind in Abnegation. I'm guessing he was talking about you."

Tris smiled fondly. "He did?"

"Yes." He smiled. "He believed you were gonna become great someday, he was already so proud of you back then. Will he be joining us here?"

Tris nodded. "Yeah, he'll be here in a few days, we never spend a lot of time apart. He had my back at the Fringe, I would have died several times if it wasn't for him."

"I'm glad, we have a lot to catch up on."

Something wasn't ringing right in my head, as far as I knew, there were only 2 Abnegation-to-Dauntless transfers in history, Tris and I. How is it possible that this Isaac guy, who I already dislike, transferred from Abnegation to Dauntless? "I have a question." I said, getting everyone's attention, especially Tris'. "You and I were the only transfers from Abnegation to Dauntless, how is it possible that Isaac, or whatever his name is, transferred to Dauntless from Abnegation?"

The corners of her mouth turned slightly upwards. "Technically, he didn't. His parents were factionless and they didn't exactly have it easy, they couldn't handle raising him. My dad found him wrapped up in a blanket at the entrance of the Abnegation sector, he was about a week old. The couple that lived next door to us couldn't have children, so they adopted him. Isis wasn't Abnegation-born, so he was never considered a dependent. When he chose Dauntless at his Choosing Ceremony, it wasn't considered a transfer, that's why you and I are the only A-to-D transfers."

I nodded and Tris turned to the rest of the gang. "Well, I was in the Fringe and after finding Isis, I joined forces with him and his people and together we fought to take the Fringe out of the control of the drug cartels, there were about 3 of them operating there. It wasn't easy, some people died, other got badly hurt, but we made it and now the Fringe belongs to its people."

"Did you get hurt there?" Christina asked, looking concerned.

"I added a couple more scars to my repertoire." She answered, smirking.

"A 'couple-couple' or a 'couple-I lost count'?" Caleb inquired. He knows his sister well.

Said sister shrugged. "I didn't lose count, they're not that many anyway."

Caleb glared at her, in an attempt to make her feel guilty. Tris simply shrugged once more, so I'm guessing Caleb's glare didn't work. She cleared her throat and carried on. "Well, after our work in the Fringe was done, I moved to Washington. I managed to infiltrate the President's Council and obtained informants all around town."

Zeke coughed. "Informants? How did you manage to get informants?"

She laughed. "It wasn't hard, I got some dirt on people who could get me some reliable info and threatened them. I just had to sweet talk others, there was this guy who was so easy to convince, I just promised him a date." Everybody laughed at that. _A date?!_ "He's gonna wait for that date for a long long time."

"You're not going on a date with the dude, are you?" Christina asked.

Tris laughed. "Have you met me? Of course not!" They laughed together.

Tris turned back to us, resumed her narrative and I braced myself to hear her story again.

 _1 hour later_

"So, George and Amar are in the police force, Tobias is in politics and Christina's doing God knows what, what are you doing Zeke?" Tris asked vividly while Christina glared at her.

Zeke smiled. "I'm in private security."

"Wow, that's great. Oh, and how's Shauna?" She smiled widely.

"Shauna's in the hospital."

Tris' face fell and her brow furrowed. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Not at all, it's the opposite, actually. She's pregnant and close to term, so she's in the hospital because it's a risky pregnancy, with her being paralyzed and all." He answered, grinning.

Her eyes were glowing. "You guys are gonna have a baby?" she asked, expectation in her voice.

Zeke smiled at her. "Yeah, we're having a baby boy."

Tris smiled widely, a smile of pure joy. "Oh my god, that's great! I'm so happy for you guys!" she hugged Zeke, still smiling. "Can I go visit her?"

He smiled again. "Of course, but maybe I should go see her first and explain the situation."

"Of course!" Tris nodded enthusiastically.

After a few more minutes of meaningless small talk, the air grew quiet until Tris broke the silence. "So, are the other faction buildings still in use? I know that the Candor headquarters are still in use, I was there earlier meeting with Johanna."

Amar was the one who answered her question. "Well, the Erudite headquarters were turned into a research lab and the Amity compound is now a storage place for food and animal chow. The Dauntless headquarters were turned into the police headquarters."

She looked deep in thought. "The entire thing, even The Pit? Or are you guys just using the space under the glass dome?"

"Just the space under the glass dome."

Tris smiled at him. "Is the net still in place? Oh, and do the trains still run like before?"

Amar looked confused. "Yes and yes. Why?"

"Well, since everything's up and running, I can go retrieve something I left there." She explained, shrugging.

"Ok, but don't you even think you're going now, I'm not letting you leave." Christina said, holding onto Tris, who laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon." She took out her phone and checked the time. "Well, my duty's done for the day. Who wants a glass of that fine scotch Zeke mentioned?" she asked, smiling.

Christina and Zeke pumped their fists in the air in agreement and jumped from the couch, heading towards the bar. Everyone else soon followed and I eyed them from my seat for a while before getting up and following them. This is gonna be a fun night.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed that! Let me know what you think of the story so far, review, send me a private message, write me a letter, even communicate with me through the Force, I just wanna know what my readers are think about my story!**

 **Since we're on the subject of my stories, I started a new Divergent Trilogy fanfic and I'd really like to know what you guys think about it! It would be really helpful. It's called "Samsara" and this is its summary: "** _Samsara teaches that the world we consider "real" is actually a projection of our own desires. 13 years ago, our city was attacked. A disease profaned this land and its people. The researchers were forced to take extreme measures to save the lives of the Chicago inhabitants and life went on. Then, the shooting at the compound took place and now Tris' life ended. But, did it really?_ **"**

 **Take a look and leave a review if you feel like it, I'd really appreaciate it!**

 **Now hat I'm gonna start college classes, I don't know when I'm gonna have the chance to update again, but I'm gonna try to set a standard day for updates based on the amount of time I'm gonna recquire to write the next chapter, I'll let you guys know when I'm gonna be updating again on the next chapter's author's note.**

 **See you next chapter!**


	6. Not a chapter! (Sorry)

**Reply to reviews from "Guest" reviewers**

Hello my lovely readers, I'm sorry to tell you that no, this is not a new chapter. I'm sorry that this "update" isn't a new chapter but I've received reviews from 2 guest reviewers and I feel the need to reply to those reviews in some way and, since they're guests, this is the only way I've found and I also feel like their reviews would damage the readers' image of my story, therefore it would bug the hell out of me to wait until I had a chapter ready to reply to this reviewers.

The first guest review I'm going to answer is about the focus of the story. This is the review: " _I like the story but I think that you should really get the FOURTRIS relationship going_ ". Just to be clear, this is not a mere love story, this is the story about a conspiracy, about Tris' and every other character's development, it's not simply about Tris not being dead, coming back to Chicago and getting back together with Four. Seriously, person who left this review, do you think that a conspiracy takes such little time to explain that in 5 chapters I would have changed the focus of the story to the FourTris romance? How naïve are you? A conspiracy is a silent kind of war, it's one of the deadliest. The entire Cold War was spun around conspiracies, people don't just simply stumble over one and have it completely unfold itself before their eyes. It takes time to unravel and it takes a lot of time to explain. Plus, Four isn't the only one Tris left behind in Chicago, are you forgetting about her friends? It's ovious that Four is the most affected one of them all, that's why it will take even longer to get them on good terms than with anyone else. Again, I feel the need to stress that this story is about a conspiracy, it's about a war, not about everyone getting a happy ending in 5 chapters.

The second and third reviews are apparently from the same person, although this person doesn't seem to have much knowledge of the human nature, nor is he/she/it very skilled at picking up on nuances or actually understanding what he/she/it has read. This is this person's first review: " _I have just started reading this story. I like to read the reviews first to see if the story is worth reading. One reviewer states that the author should get the FourTris story going. I have just read as far as Chapter 1. It seems like basically Tris left Tobias without any communication whatsoever to become a government agent which displays a total lack of love and affection for anyone other than herself. So what type of FourTris story can be built from this? Tris seems to have this attitude of grandeur where only she can save the country and to heck with all her family and loved ones. She acts like she can live without them. Or did she simply run off with Matthew? It seems as if she did exactly that. I can't wait to find out how the author will spin this story with this selfish Tris character._ " First of all, Tris did not become a government agent, she spied on the government and well, last I checked, the assistants of councilmen are not considered government agents, as government agents is what the White House security staff, the CIA operatives, etc, are called. Second of all, why on Earth would Tris run off with Matthew? Third of all, do you have absolutely no comprehension of the human nature or of Tris' personality even? I have made sure that Tris is completely in character, so no one could even get the chance to state she's OOC. Having said this, how can you even consider Tris as being selfish? Who, on their right mind, would run off to check out some shit about a random conspiracy and leave all their loved ones behind without being completely and utterly selfless? If, as you suggest it, Tris is a selfish bitch, why would she have left and leave them thinking she was dead. I wouldn't, for sure. Forth of all, "to heck with her family and loved ones"? Are you forgetting that Tris would have lived and Caleb would have died had she not loved him enough to go in his place? Fifth of all, I don't think you've ever even had the potential to excel at something, otherwise you'd know that with great power comes great responsibility. Whether Tris liked it or not, she was powerful and with that came the responsibility to take on this new conspiracy problem. Adding the responsibility that comes with power to her selflessness, you get a Tris that is willing to leave her friends, her family, the man she loves, her home, everything behind, basically giving up her life, to go make sure that other people won't get hurt. It's not like only she can save the world, it's that only she has the responsibility, since she has the power to put an end to it and **she knows what's going on**. As I have stated before, a conspiracy isn't something you simply stumble upon. Do you think anyone would believe her if she tried to warn somebody? To conclude my reply/analysis to/of this review, I have one more thing to add. Do you, person who reviewed, think that it would be anything close to fair to let Four, Caleb, Christina, etc, know that she was alive when there was the possibility of her never returning? Do you think Tris could ever be heartless enough to leave them all hanging and thus prolonging their suffering? Maybe you do, maybe you don't.

Well, moving on to this person's second review, which appears to be a conclusion to the first one. This is the review:" _Yeah, I think I was right after reading the first chapter. This Tris seems like an arrogant, insensitive, dope smoking jerk._ " I don't think I have anything to say about this one, I believe I've said everything there was to say on the reply/comment/analysis/whatever to this person's first review, although I feel like I should add one more little thing. Using this reviewer's own eloquence, the only insensitive jerk I've spotted lately is you. You must be very young, only someone young would have such a dismissive attitude towards someone else's actions, only someone young would not look into someone else's actions deep enough to see the true motivation behind them.

Anyway, with all of this business done with, I want to apologize to my dear readers who had to put up with my rant. All of this was really bothering me and I had to get it out of my chest and since this people are either too lazy or too cowardly to create an account and review stories with that account, this was the only possible way to give them a proper answer.

I hope everyone's well and I'm gonna try to update next weekend.

Again, I'm sorry for this. See you next chapter!


	7. Reflections

**So...hi...Yeah, I know it's been a while, I apologize. College is crazy, like, seriously, bat shit crazy. I'm loving it though xD**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

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Tris' POV

Ouch, my head hurts. _Why does my head hurt?_ Oh yeah, cause I got drunk yesterday, that's why. The light coming from the open window is too freaking bright, someone should turn off the sun. Can the sun be turned off? _Of course no, you idiot!_

I might as well get started on the damage control. _Clothes?_ Check. They're all wrinkled up because I slept in them, but I have them on nevertheless. _Phone and wallet?_ Check, they're both on the nightstand. _Keys?_ I can't see them, I have to sit up to look around properly. I don't wanna sit up. Please don't make me sit up, oh merciful god.

And I'm sitting up, my head is throbbing. At least I can see my keys, they're over by the door, next to one of my shoes. I wonder where the other one is, although I don't really care. Also, lying on the floor are Christina, Zeke, George, Amar and Caleb. There's only one person missing.

I got out of bed and out of yesterday's clothes, got in the shower and turned on the hot water. The warmness helped ease my headache and my sore muscles, I left my shower feeling a lot better.

Quickly, I grabbed a red tank top and black jeans from my dresser, along with clean underwear, and got dressed in the bathroom. After I was finished with getting dressed, I got to combing my hair. It felt weird while I was growing it out, but I have long gotten used to having long hair again.

Several minutes later, I got out of the bathroom with now untangled hair falling down my back and headed to the kitchen. As expected, Tobias was there cooking breakfast.

I cleared my throat as I strode into the kitchen and gave him a small smile. "Morning."

"Good morning, Tris." He replied. "I thought you'd be in a much fouler mood after drinking so much yesterday."

I chuckled inwardly and shrugged. "Oh, don't worry, I feel like crap. I'm just used to it, that all."

"You're used to it?"

"Yep. I even came up with my own hangover miraculous cure." I mused as I grabbed eggs from the pantry.

Tobias rose his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

I set down the eggs and grabbed a honey bottle from the cabinet. "Oh yeah. I'll be skipping happily down the street in no time at all." He still looked disbelieving. "Can you please pass the milk?" I asked and he did so.

I cracked 2 eggs into the blender, added honey and milk and blended them all together. Goddamn, it looks nasty. It tastes nasty, but I have to drink it, so it's better to not think about how nasty it tastes. I poured the blender contents into a glass and braced myself.

As I was about to take the first sip, Tobias spoke again.

"What was it like?" he asked.

"What was what like?"

He looked down at his feet. "You know…being dead."

 _Oh_. "It was…incredible." I looked at Tobias as he sulked. "At first."

"What do you mean, «at first»?"

"Well, it was breathtaking, exhilarating. I was away from home, nobody knew me, I had no baggage what so ever, the future was wide open for my. I could go anywhere I wanted, be anyone I felt like being. I didn't have to care about anyone, mostly 'cause I had no one to care for."

Tobias only nodded and turned off the stove. I took advantage of the break in our conversation to chuck down my hangover cure, which was, as expected, nasty.

He divided the scrambled eggs he had been cooking into 2 plates and handed me one, while keeping the other to himself. "Carry on."

I sat down and took a bite of my food. It was surprisingly good. "Well, finding my brother only enhanced the glory of the whole thing. I was reunited with my brother, who I thought was dead, and I made new friends, which turned into comrades after the hell-like shit we went through together."

Tobias only nodded as he ate his breakfast. "Then, I started thinking that Chris or Zeke would find something that happened funny, or that someone back here in Chicago would have appreciated the beauty of somewhere I went and my chest started hurting. One day, the guilt just sank in and nothing felt worth doing anymore. That's just how it goes: you love it, then you start to not love it and then you can't think about anything other than the pain you feel in your chest from the moment you wake up until the moment you go back to sleep. All that pain and all that guilt never seem to end."

He looked at me with one of the greatest poker faces known to men. "Do they really never end?"

I gave him a sad smile. "The sins of the past cast long shadows, Tobias."

"I'm aware of that." He nodded and we finished eating in silence.

Once I was done with my breakfast, I got up and took my plate to the sink. There was a knock on the door.

"Please let it not be him." I whispered to myself while heading to the door.

"Let it not be who?" Oh. I guess Tobias heard me.

"My next door neighbor. He's a pain in the ass. Seriously." I replied.

I got to the door and opened it, leaning against the frame. God darn it, it's the douche. "Hi Zach, do you need something?" I asked, trying to sound at least remotely friendly.

"Just wanted to check up on the pretty lady, see if she's reconsidered my dinner offer."

I almost rolled my eyes. "She hasn't. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some friends over that I need to attend to."

He pouted like a small child. "Do you really have to though?"

Suddenly, I felt Tobias' presence behind me as he further opened the door. "You heard her. Get lost."

The douche snorted. "And who are _you_ to tell _me_ to get lost, prick?"

 _Ahah_. Big mistake. Tobias stepped in front of me and really close to Zach. I could almost see my neighbor cowering in fear at the full sight of Tobias' menacing silhouette. My my, this is fun.

"You should tell your psycho boyfriend to take it down a notch." He said, trying to save the situation. "You'd be much better off with me, Tris." _Ah_. I highly doubt that. "Anyway, I'm gonna go. I've got better places to be than here." Again, I highly doubt that.

Zach left and Tobias shut the door forcefully. "I get that that douche is a punk, but my door isn't the culprit here." I mused, laughing a bit. Tobias, however, did not look amused. He really pissed him off, by the looks of it. His scowl deepened and as he was about to reply to my 'joke', Zeke came into the room stumbling.

"Why are you guys being so loud? It's like 6 am."

Both Tobias and I laughed. "It's nearly noon, you dumb idiot."

Zeke looked very confused. "What do you mean it's almost noon?"

We laughed again and I went to the kitchen to fix him, and the others, some breakfast.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it! I know it's shorter than usual, but it's the best I managed to properly do. I'll give you an extra long chapter when I eventually find the time xD**

 **See you next chapter, you lovely folks!**


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